That's a beautiful cover by Edgar Franklin Wittmark from a 1930 Adventure. I have no clue what the cover story, H. Bedford-Jones's "Jewels For a Lady," is about, but it's safe to guess that an Adventure cover story is Bedford-Jones in top form. The so-called "King of the Pulps" spread the wealth around the four major adventure pulps, with Blue Book getting the most, with plenty to go around for other magazines. Two other heavy hitters this issue are Arthur O. Friel, who starts a two-parter, and Thomson Burtis, who most often did airborne crime-fighting stories but worked other genres as well. Bill Adams, who has a fiction piece this issue, was virtually Adventure's house philosopher during the 1920s, when his non-fiction "Slants on Life" appeared regularly. Redvers' Cry Havoc!, introduced so dramatically on last issue's cover, wraps up this time, while E. S. Dellinger, Henry LaCossitt, Edmund M. Littell and Barry Lyndon round out the fiction lineup. Adventure is supposed to be past its prime by this point, but on an issue-to-issue basis I doubt any rival could top it yet.
Famous pulp collector (and writer) Walker Martin has a complete collection of Adventure, so if you can get a message to him, he'll probably be able to tell you about the H. Bedford-Jones story. I understand he hangs out in some of the pulp groups on Yahoo.
ReplyDeleteHoward, Walker has started hanging out here occasionally, too. And that's an enviable collection.
ReplyDeleteI do have all 753 pulp issues of ADVENTURE, 1910-1953, and it is my favorite pulp title. I've read hundreds of stories, well over a thousand, probably over two thousand since I've been collecting it since Pulpcon number one in 1972.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have to admit that I have not yet read this issue. My favorite period is 1918-1926, when Arthur Sullivant Hoffman was editor and the magazine was at its' peak. I really believe ADVENTURE is in the running for the title of the greatest fiction magazine. And since I've done extensive reading in the slicks and literary magazines, I'm including them in this claim also.
The Bedford Jones story blurb states "A novelette of the China Seas" and I see it stars a soldier of fortune by the name of James Doyle.
Walker, you had me at "China Seas," and "soldier of fortune" is icing on the cake.
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